New Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi has revealed he had to indulge the prop department when he began filming in the Tardis - because he already knew how to work it.

The 56-year-old actor - who has been cast as the 12th Time Lord in the long-running cult BBC sci fi series - almost felt over-qualified for the job - one he'd been training for since childhood.

Peter revealed: "I had to be very patient [on set], because there were always very nice prop guys telling me how to work the Tardis, and I was like, 'I know how to work the Tardis. I've known for a very long time how to work the Tardis. Probably longer than you, so you don't need to tell me'."

The Scottish actor - known to many as foul-mouthed spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker in award-winning comedy The Thick Of It - has always been a huge fan of Doctor Who.

He said: "It's a huge privilege and hugely exciting, and it's funny, because I've known the show since I was a kid."

"There was definitely a time I grew apart from it, because you reach 17 or 18 and you start getting into sex and drugs and rock and roll and off you go, you leave the programme behind.

"I grew up in the Sixties, so I grew up with Doctor Who and The Beatles and Sunday Night At The London Palladium, school milk and bronchitis and smog and all this stuff, so it's part of my DNA.

"So although one goes away, the prodigal son returns."

And Peter is very philosophical about how other fans will react to his interpretation of the role.

"I think the nice thing about Doctor Who is whether people like it or don't like it, somewhere, someone loves you and will always love you - and the more everyone hates you, the more they'll love you. 'He was my Doctor', they'll say."